What is "providentialism"

Providentialism is a belief that God's will is evident in all occurrences, and its application to the social order and world events. It can further be described as an article of faith that the power of God (or Providence) is so complete that humans cannot equal His abilities, or fully understand His actions. Another aspect of providentialism is the conviction that God's plan is beyond the control of humans, and that sometimes this may be expressed in sorrowful things happening to seemingly good people. It also may be understood as a mental acceptance of the provision that all that happens in the world is for the greater good, since "God created the social order and appointed each individual in his place within it."

Providentialism was frequently featured in discussions of European political and intellectual elites seeking to justify imperialism in the 19th century, on the grounds that the suffering caused by European conquest was justified under the grounds of furthering God's plan and spreading Christianity and civilization to distant nations. In the words of historians, it was an interpretive framework of occurring natural, political and social events at a time when religious and secular were not clearly divided.